Get Action!

Winter is coming, and so is a projected increase in respiratory illnesses and COVID cases. Schools are particularly notorious breeding grounds for such diseases with children being more susceptible to respiratory illnesses.

Ultimately, this results in teachers also being subject to COVID and respiratory illnesses at a higher rate than other professions, and an increased number of teachers leaving the profession due to long COVID symptoms is worsening Aotearoa’s already severe teacher shortage.

For this week’s Get Action! Oto spoke to Tara Forde from Aotearoa Covid Action, to discuss a petition of hers calling for the government to prevent the spread of COVID in our schools by making improvements to school air quality and improving accessibility to Booster Vaccines and Rapid Antigen Tests.

If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here:

For a number of years, Aotearoa has been dealing with a shortage of psychologists and similar professionals to deal with the growing mental health needs of the wider population, with estimates suggesting that an additional 1,000 more psychologists are needed to fill gaps in the profession.

In response to the country’s growing mental health needs, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey announced a new Associate Psychologist role, consisting of recent post-graduates, to work alongside fully trained Psychologists.

However, a number of Psychologists and experts have criticised the introduction of this new role, saying that these associate Psychologists may be expected to take on the responsibilities of clinical Psychologists despite being underqualified.

For this week’s Get Action! Oto spoke to Dr Kumari Valentine, a clinical psychologist based in Dunedin, who’s launched a petition calling on the government to roll back the introduction of the new Associate psychology role and look to other methods of filling gaps in the Psychology profession.

If you're interested in signing this petition, you can find it here:

One of the main promises that National and the coalition ran on in the lead up to the most recent general elections was that of tax relief, by lifting the personal income tax thresholds for low- and middle-income earners and families, and most notably, landlords and large businesses. 

Funding these tax cuts have been widespread austerity measures, with almost  10,000 public sector roles having been cut as of December 2024.

In response to the government’s tax policies Tax Justice Aotearoa have launched a petition calling for capital gains taxes to be introduced and other tax reforms to achieve better social outcomes in Aotearoa.

Oto spoke to Glenn Barclay, Chairperson of Tax Justice Aotearoa and the better taxes coalition, about the petition and the issues with the tax system in Aotearoa.

If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here:

The McCallum Brothers is an Auckland-based Sand mining company who have created a proposal to mine eight million cubic metres of sand from the seabed of the Bream Bay in the North Island over the next 35 years.

While initially considered a low priority project, the proposal has recently been fast-tracked under new legislation, prompting opposition from local Iwi and Hapu, as well as concerned residents across the bream bay, for the projectsproject's potential impacts on local marine life and the region’s fishing industries.

For this week’s Get Action! Oto spoke to Brenda Leeuwenberg - a resident of Ruakaka, who started a petition on behalf of the communities along the Bream Bay, calling on the regional government to oppose the project and revoke its fast-track consents.

If you’re interested in signing this petition you can find it here: